The Pure Consciousness is the substratum of everything in the universe.
Verily we are this Pure Awareness. However, instead of striving to realize this
Truth, when we try to give this Awareness name and form, the trouble arises! And
that trouble is the movement of the mind (thoughts) manifesting in the notion
of division, diversity, subject-object relationship, the feeling of two-ness or
duality; giving rise to the phenomenal world of names and forms. This is also
called mental conditioning. Thus, the mind conditioned by the perception of duality
(ਮਾਇਆ ਵਾਲੀ ਭੁੱਖ/ਭਟਕਣਾ) sees plurality, which, in turn, hides the Reality. To put it in other words, by
associating with the duality (Doojaa Bhaav , Dubidhaa, relativism, ਪ੍ਰਭੂ ਤੋਂ ਬਿਨਾ ਕਿਸੇ ਹੋਰ ਝਾਕ ਵਿਚ ਰਹਿਣਾਂ, ਮੇਰ-ਤੇਰ, etc.), one loses Divine Understanding.
This loosening of the Divine Understanding gives rise to ignorance of one's True
Self so much talked about in the scriptures.
Therefore, where there is the filth duality within (division in one's consciousness, the Haume or ego-mind's wanderings - ਮਨ ਦੀ ਭਟਕਣਾਂ -, the filth of Maya's Bikaars stuck to the mind, etc.), there cannot
be any real spiritual experience of the Lord's All-pervading Presence.

Although the creation exists
in the Infinite Consciousness, however, in the darkness of ignorance, appears
to be different and independent of That. Also known as Divine Lila (pronounced Leelaa) or Cosmic
Dance, we all are part of this Cosmic Dance. This Jagat (world) is said to be Mithiya or transitory
(neither real nor unreal). In this Play, we experience our own Vaasnaas (latent tendencies,
memories or undigested desires). Some of these experiences are the repetition
of the old experiences, and some are new. This Play of mirage-like world-appearance
gets in action on account of the rise of Haume or false ego-sense. Hence it is our physical ego
(false "I") that is the transitory actor in this Drama. Only the Spiritual Beings
(the Gurmukhs), fully established in the eternity of the "Now" can
understand the illusion of this world and the Truth.

ਝੂਠਾ ਇਹੁ ਸੰਸਾਰੁ ਕਿਨਿ ਸਮਝਾਈਐ ॥: Jhoothaa eihu sansaar kin samjhaaeeai:
This world is false, but only a few understand this (sggs 147).

Imagine
sitting in front of a television set, watching all sorts of pictures projected
on the screen of the picture tube. Some of these pictures are of rain, murder,
gun shots, romance, and so on. When the show is over, the screen neither becomes
wet from the rain, nor has blood from the murder, nor bullet holes from the gun
shots, nor emotions from the romance. The screen itself is clean and unchanging;
for the projections are unreal, and the screen is real.

The mind is the creation
that arises out of the Mool (Source, Origin, Jot...). We are this screen. All the manifestation we see
on this screen is the projection of our Vaasnaas (habits or undigested
desires)that fall across our mind. This projection of Vaasnaas
causes us to identify ourselves as the projected watcher of the movie. The problem
starts the moment we run after the projections thinking they are real. With this
delusion (Dubidhaa or duality) comes the perception that the seer is different than the
seeing and seen. But in reality, the "seer", "seeing" and "seen" are one and the
same!In simple terms, the duality is the disease
of our conditioned mind (i.e., doubts, desires, fear, worry, etc.), which veils
our True Self (Joti-Svaroopa). As a result, one thinks himself "other" than the Spirit Soul, the Divine, and so on. This is the notion of two-ness. Hence, as the
Gurbani puts it, the duality is nothing but the love (Bhaav) of two-ness
(Doojaa). This is Maya: dualistic principle of delusion, pluralistic phenomena,
or the law of opposites.

The Gurbani asserts that whoever has belly is Maya stricken.
What it means is that even to breathe is to breathe in Maya. To put it otherwise,
to be born in a physical body is to be subjected to Maya's illusion. The children
from their very birth are exposed to this cosmic delusion and grow up under the
influence of it's three qualities: Taamas, Raajas and Saatav
(stupor and ignorance, passion and greed, and goodness and wisdom, respectively).

ਦੂਜੀ ਮਾਇਆ ਜਗਤ ਚਿਤ ਵਾਸੁ ॥: Doojee maya jagat chit vaas: The duality
of Maya dwells in the consciousness of the people of this material world (sggs
223).

Except
the Wise one (the Gurmukh), the ordinary man's physical existence is a clue that his is in ignorance
and has not realized his True Identity (Joti-Svaroopa) as formless, nameless, timeless and spaceless
Spirit. It is interesting phenomena that God gives man the delusion first, and
not Himself! Why is it so? Because if He gives Himself first then their will be
no Leelaa! To carry on His dramatic Leelaa, the All-knowing does
not give Himself first. He remains covered with the veil of duality (time,
space, name and form) to keep His Cosmic play going. In this Leelaa, the
man plays hide-and-seek with Him and tries to seek Him as the Grand Prize of his
life. Those who are sincere in their self-efforts win this Grand Prize, while
the rest of us just suffer the repeated pain and delusion.

Here some may feel puzzled and query
as to why does God first give Himself to very few or rare ones (i.e., the Gurmukh), while to most
of us He first gives delusion. Is He partial? No, He is not. It is the Budhi that determines our mental state. Thus, all contrasts, contradictions,
and relativities are the unfoldments of one's own mind, not any outside agency.

It is
clear that the illusive Maya creates duality in our mind. Consequently, depending
upon our mental state or where we fit in this Cosmic Game, we begin to respond
emotionally. According to our liking or disliking, we view the pairs of opposites
(duality) as either pleasurable or unpleasurable. Succumbing to the unceasing
impulses of the "likes" and "dislikes", the Viveka Budhi (discriminative intellect) and the free choice of our Soul get overwhelmed; plunging
us into delusive ignorance or duality.

ਜਿਉ ਸੁਪਨੈ ਨਿਸਿ ਭੁਲੀਐ ਜਬ ਲਗਿ ਨਿਦ੍ਰਾ ਹੋਇ ॥ ਇਉ ਸਰਪਨਿ ਕੈ ਵਸਿ ਜੀਅੜਾ ਅੰਤਰਿ ਹਉਮੈ ਦੋਇ ॥: Jiou supanai
nisi bhuleeai jabb lagg nidaraa hoi. Iou sarapani kai vasi jeearraa antar houmai
doi: In dream at night, mistakenly (we take things in the dream to be real), and this mistale lasts as long as we sleep;
just so, Jeeva (the individual being) is under the power of the snake Maya, as long as their hearts are
filled with ego (Haume) and duality. (sggs 63).

ਬੁਰਾ ਭਲਾ ਤਿਚਰੁ ਆਖਦਾ ਜਿਚਰੁ ਹੈ ਦੁਹੁ ਮਾਹਿ ॥: Buraa bhalaa tichar aakhadaa
jichar hai duhu maahi: One calls others bad and good, as long as he himself is in
the control of duality (sggs 757).

From the perception of
individuality (egoism) arises wall namely senses-mind-intellect, which
divide our consciousness, creating apparent separation from the Mool (Source, Origin, Jot...). This
formidable wall of the senses-mind-intellect makes it very hard for us to gain a glimpse of our own pure, simple
Mool. This is the trap — the play of the mind. This is what the Gurbani calls
ignorance, illusion, suffering, self-limitation, cycle of birth and death, pains,
mental agitation, foolishness, insanity, misery, sorrows, corruption, deception,
animal mentality, evil nature, bad habits, wickedness, bondage, attachment, arrogance,
falsehood, "I, me, mine, your", and so on.

One exhibits this false consciousness under the
sense of limited individuality grown out of his body-bound inclinations. Thus,
our identification with the physical body creates non-apprehension of the Reality,
which in turn, creates in us the misapprehension that we are finite beings. The
doubt and duality thus created become screen between our True Nature (Joti-Svaroop). This is the blind well of spiritual ignorance mentioned
in the Gurbani.

The existence of a person deceived by the love of duality
is like the life of a cursed and discarded bride. Like a wall of sand, day and
night, she crumbles and eventually she breaks down altogether. Just as the silkworm
weaves its own cocoon and binds itself to death, the man fancies this pluralistic
world and gets caught in it.

How can we remove this Doojaa Bhaav or
duality from within? Duality can be eliminated with the truthful practice of the
followings: pure yearning for Spiritual Wisdom, Shabad Vichaar, and living the Gur-Giaan. With this comes the cessation of the perception of duality within
and outside. Then one abides and rejoices in one's own Mool. This is the direct
Spiritual Experience.

With quieting or purification
of the mind (removal of duality), we get linked with our Original Nature
again — the Unconditioned Consciousness. Like the waves rise and then fall back
into the ocean, like the one sky is reflected in thousands of water jugs, but
when the jugs are broken, only the sky remains.

Consider
a well and a bucket tied to a rope. The well is the Mool, the bucket is our perception
of individuality arising from duality, and the rope is our Desires. Suppose
if we throw this bucket (false ego) in the Well (Mool) and discard the rope
(Desires), then what will happen? We will merge with the Homogeneous
Oneness in which all is. The individuality (false ego or duality) will cease to
be.

The substratum of all waves is only one ocean, of all rays is only one
sun, and of all bracelets is only one gold. Similarly, there is only One Reality
(Ik Oankaar), which is the Substratum (Adhaar) of everything. When
This One Reality is there, there can be no false ego. When false ego is there,
this One is absent! This is the secret that the Gurbani reveals to us.

Ultimately,
in order to completely realize the Mool within, one has to even go pass the notion
of non-dualism. Our perception of the sky is that it is blue. However, this blueness
of the sky is an optical illusion. Neither the sky is blue nor un-blue. The notion
of dualism presupposes unity, and the non-dualism suggests dualism. However, the
Divine Factor is Notionlessness (Sunn Samaadhi), beyond all perceptions
or thoughts! Yet this Eternal Factor becomes veiled by the transient entity is
the great illusion so much discussed by the Gurbani.

ਪ੍ਰਥਮੇ ਤਿਆਗੀ ਹਉਮੈ ਪ੍ਰੀਤਿ ॥ ਦੁਤੀਆ ਤਿਆਗੀ ਲੋਗਾ ਰੀਤਿ ॥ ਤ੍ਰੈ ਗੁਣ ਤਿਆਗਿ ਦੁਰਜਨ ਮੀਤ ਸਮਾਨੇ ॥ ਤੁਰੀਆ ਗੁਣੁ ਮਿਲਿ ਸਾਧ ਪਛਾਨੇ ॥੨॥: Prathme tiyaagee hayumai preet ...:(After having tasted the Prema-Rasa or Prema-Bhagati: Shabad-Vichhar, Aatam-Giaan, Gurmat...) first, I renounced my love of egotism (ਹਉਮੈ). Second, I renounced the ways of the world. (Then) I renounce the three qualities of Maya and I recognize friend and enemy alike. And then, (renenouncing the three qualities of Maya) the Turiyaa Avasthaa (which is above the three qualities of Maya - the Fourth State of Bliss) was realized. ||2|| (With the Prema-Rasa...) I became established in the cave of the Sahaj Avasthaa (Natural State of Being, ਆਤਮਕ ਅਡੋਲਤਾ, etc.). (Now) within me, plays the unstruck melody of the Joti-Svaroopa. By Shabad-Vichaar, I am in Great Bliss (ਆਤਮਕ ਅਨੰਦ). Blessed are the soul-brides who are imbued in the Love of the Beloved (imbued in Brahm-Giaan...) ||3|| (sggs 370).

According to the Gurbani, only fools get deluded
by their mental restlessness, who think that the perishable is imperishable. The
truth is that Parameshar alone exists, rest is His transitory Leelaa. In
that sense, the duality and egotism do not exist any more than water exists in
the mirage. Therefore, the Gurbani urges us to abandon our false concepts and
notions which are not based on fact. Therefore, we are urged to rest in the Purified
Vision which is based on the Truth (Existence-Consciousness-Bliss).

In the Purified
Vision, there is neither doer nor enjoyer. On the contrary, in the impure vision
there is division or duality. When the mind turns towards the Immutable Truth
within, it abandons its wrong identification with the body and attains the Divine
Consciousness.

With the departure of all notions (duality as well as non-duality),
one comes to abide in the Indweller of his Heart, the Waheguru. At that stage,
there is no student, no teacher, and no teaching. In the Infinite Mool, there
is no creator, no creation, no destruction, no worlds, no universe, no time (or
death), no existence, no names, no forms, no "I", no "you", no "this", no "that",
no truth, no false, no likes or dislikes, no humans, no demons, no elements, no
bodies, no meditation, no sorrow, no enjoyment, no beginning, no middle, and no
end: all is at all times, beyond the comprehension of the body-mind-intellect.

According to the Gurbani, the skillful living is to identify inside with
the Infinite Mool alone, and yet play in the Leelaa outside with no emotional
attachment. Not easy at all!
From the constant association of the Sat
(Truth) within and without one learns as to what is worth seeking and what is to be avoided. Which,
in turn, creates a sincere wish to break the shackles of material bondage (Maya, ignorance...).
This leads to serious Shabad-Vichaar (Reflection on the Gurbani). In turn, the
Shabad-Vichaar thins out delusion; leading mind to attain Pure Wisdom.
With the rising of this Spiritual Wisdom, the apprehension of the unreal is weakened;
and one's consciousness moves back in the Reality and becomes established in the
Truth. Thereafter, the duality and bondage cease to be. After cessation of duality,
only the Pure Consciousness remains.

Thus, when the mind is made completely
calm (Sahaj or purified) by overcoming duality (mental conditioning or
disturbances), the illusion (Maya) that deludes the ignorant comes to an end.
After theMool (Source...) is rediscovered, one sees everything existing in One Homogenous
Reality.